Battle of the heavyweights as Marri Shashidhar takes on Talasani Srinivas

 Hyderabad: The Sanathnagar Assembly constituency is set to witness a battle of the heavyweights in the upcoming elections, with the BRS fielding two-time winner Talasani Srinivas Yadav and the BJP opting for four-time MLA Marri Shashidhar Reddy to counter the threat.

To win the coveted seat, the Congress named as its candidate Kota Neelima, the wife of senior Congress leader Pawan Khera.

The BJP replaced Bhawarlal Varma, who lost in 2018 elections.

The constituency has a total of 2,44,956 voters, including 1, 27,436 men, 1,17,502 women and eight transgender persons, including 10 service electors.

In the past two elections, the constituency has become a pocket borough of BRS’ Talasani Srinivas, who won the seat in 2014 on a TD ticket and in 2018 on a BRS ticket. He remains confident of winning it for a third consecutive term.

BJP candidate Marri Shashidhar Reddy, who won the seat in 1992, 1994, 2004 and 2009 on a Congress ticket, each time, is hoping to secure a debut win for the BJP.

The Congress appears to face a tough fight due to its absence from the race since 2014.

In 2018, Talasani Srinivas Yadav secured 66,464 votes, defeating TD’s Kuna Venkatesh Goud by 30,651 votes. BJPs’ Bhawarlal Varma came third, securing 14,247 votes.

In 2014, Talasani Srinivas secured 56,475 votes, defeating TRS’ Dande Vittal by 27,461 votes. Congress’ Marri Shashidhar Reddy came third, securing 23,280 votes.

The Sanathnagar seat will prove a game-changer for all the three leading parties in the city, political observers said.

Infograph:

Number of electors: 2,44,956

Number of polling stations: 229

2018 election result:

Talasani Srinivas Yadav – winner from TRS

Kuna Venkatesh Goud – TD – second

Bhawarlal Varma – BJP – third